CNBC's Joe Kernen spoke with his hometown newspaper, the Cincinnati Enquirer about the markets, the ratings and the lowly hometown Bengals.

Kernen's show, Squawk Box, was up 115% from October '07 in the A25-54 demo and up 103% year-over-year in Total Viewers — its best month ever.

With a molecular biology degree from MIT, Kernen's first job was in cancer research, but his "college stock-trading hobby became his career." Kernen spent 10 years at several brokerage houses (including the now defunct Lehman Brothers) before getting in to TV. And while he's come a long way since Cincinnati, the city still influences him. "I can't say enough good things about St. Xavier," says Kernen about his high school. "And I still follow the Bengals, but it's not easy."

When asked which will rebound first, the markets or the 0-8 Bengals, Kernen says, "I'd better choose another career if (the markets) are going to be that bad for that long."